Don’t make a hassle…

Last week, when I posted my previous blog post, I noticed I posted 99 blogs until that moment. At that moment I thought about what to write for blog post #100. After some thought, I decided not to write anything. I didn’t want to make a hassle about it.

But when I had dinner this evening with a close friend from the SQL Family (yes, I’m writing this a few minutes before actually posting it), it hit me. I did need to write something. After dinner, we had a wonderful conversation about all kinds of stuff. But it sunk in during the ride home. Sometimes you just need to stand behind your principles, let other people know what you find important, and most of all: let people know you appreciate them. So that’s what I’m trying to do with this blog post.

I started blogging in September 2011, just as a brain dump for myself. But after a while, I started to notice people were reading my blogs, and I could help them with my posts. This lead to writing bigger blog posts, that were more technical, and not only usable in my specific cases. But blogging was only a gateway to other cool things. Applying for a job for example. Before I started blogging, it was about introducing yourself, and checking if you could fit the company and job. But after a year of blogging, I didn’t need to introduce myself anymore. People just knew I blogged, they read my posts, and they started to get to know me because of that.

Meeting new friends was also a side-effect in the last 2 years. Before that period, I’ve never heard about SQL Family, the community, and the awesome effort people put into that. But now, new doors are opening, and it seems that opportunities are presenting itself sometimes. The people I met, and I call my close friends now, supported me when I need it, helped me where they could, and kicked me in the butt when the situation asked for it.

For the upcoming years, I have a lot of plans, new ideas, and big dreams. And with the friends I’ve made, I think that’ll become reality. So thank you all out there: readers, authors, contributors, mentors, role models, heroes, and most of all: thank you my friends!